Birds of Gazaland. 11 



itself, however, to the larger rivers and to grass-jungle, where 

 colonies of its kidney-shaped nests may frequently be found 

 slung from the twigs of the thorn-trees. On the 25th of 

 November 1906, at Zinyumbo, I counted no less than 373 

 such nests in a single " Iguwha '' [Acacia near A. catechu). 

 There were numbers of birds in tiie tree, chirping, quarrelling, 

 chasing one another, and genei-ally making a great hubbub ; 

 hundieds of nests, old and new, lay about on the ground, 

 with quantities of broken egg-shells —some of them pure 

 Avliite, others (the majority) pale blue, while others again 

 were pale blue speckled and blotched with grey. The nests 

 were strongly woven out of a tough grass, mostly pink in 

 colour, roofed, n)any of them, with the leaves of the tree 

 itself, and lined (after the manner of H.jamesoni) with the 

 heads of Tricholoina rosea and other downy grasses. A 

 typical nest, picked out from those littering the ground, was 

 6*45 inches long by 4-7 deep ; diameter of opening 2 inches. 

 In some instances the slightly projecting mouths were very 

 curiously plaited ; in others the mouths did not project at 

 all. The birds probably resent the presence of other species 

 iu the neighbourhood of their colonies, for I saw a pair 

 vigorously attacking a dark bird larger than themselves iu a 

 neighbouring tree. A few days later I noted a colony of 

 Black-headed Weavers on an island in the Buzi, near 

 Chibabava, their nests hanging in hundreds from the reeds 

 and other growth (especially Sesbania punctata) bordering 

 the water. Often several birds at a time could be seen 

 hanging from the nests by their feet and fluttering their 

 Avings violently, while the whole colony set up an excited 

 chattering. Two, six, or more would occasionally leave the 

 island and fly off into the open woods, Avhere I sometimes 

 came across them scattered here and there searching for 

 insects. Two of four stomachs recently examined have 

 contained insects only (small beetles and grasshoppers), two 

 both seeds and insects. 



Localities : Jihu, Mafusi (Maruma and Chikamboge 

 Valley), and various points in the low veld to within a few 

 miles of the coast (Gwaragwara). 



